Corker Pushes Back in Blame Game

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Friday dismissed claims by Democrats and union officials that Republicans killed a $14 billion bill to bail out the auto industry, insisting that Republicans were willing to compromise on a number of issues and that an impasse over when the United Auto Workers would agree to reforms ultimately scuttled the agreement.

Corker  a freshman who led Republican efforts to cut a deal with Senate Democrats, union officials and the auto industry  said he never believed the proposal he took to his Conference late Thursday night would be agreed to, and never attempted to sell it as a deal.

I didnt even try to sell it. I tried to present it as a neutral deal. They knew when I left there was absolutely no chance it would be accepted by Republicans, Corker said.

Corkers comments come as Democrats and union officials blamed Republicans for the failed talks. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a press release that accused Republicans of engaging in a reckless refusal to save millions of American jobs and of acting on strictly partisan grounds. In the statement, Reid sought to lay the blame solely at the feet of the GOP. Im disappointed that Republican Senators partisan refusal to compromise prevented us from achieving a sound solution to this problem last night, Reid said.

In a press conference Friday morning, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger accused Corker and other Republicans of insisting the restructuring had to be done on the backs of workers and retirees rather than have all stakeholders come to the table.

We could not accept the effort by the Senate GOP caucus to single out workers and retirees for different treatment, Gettelfinger added.

The attacks on Republicans are in contrast to the statements by Democrats immediately following the collapse of the talks  when Reid, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (Conn.) and other Democrats lauded Corkers efforts and seemed to suggest they would help lay the groundwork for further talks in the 111th Congress.

I think the manner in which we proceeded with this  led by Sen. Corker on the Republican side  has been extremely good. … I think it is going to work well next year, Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday night.